Kurtzer's
appointment will promote collaboration between the Woodrow Wilson
School and other leading academic institutions and think tanks,
including the nonprofit Center for Middle East Peace and Economic
Cooperation, a private organization founded by Abraham in Washington,
D.C., to bring together officials from the Middle East and the United
States to develop strategies for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"We
could not be more enthusiastic about the Abraham chair or Daniel
Kurtzer as its first holder," Woodrow Wilson School Dean Anne-Marie
Slaughter said. "Having Ambassador Kurtzer here will allow us to engage
our students, faculty and visitors in a host of issues related to
contemporary Middle East politics.

"We will
also use the Woodrow Wilson School's convening power, together with Mr.
Abraham's extraordinary contacts, to hold a wide variety of events both
in Princeton and in Washington," Slaughter said.

Kurtzer
served as ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2005 with the rank of
career-minister in the foreign service. He had completed a term as U.S.
ambassador to Egypt from 1997 to 2001. He also worked from 1994 to 1997
in the Department of State as principal deputy assistant secretary and
acting assistant secretary for intelligence research, and as deputy
assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs from 1989 to 1994.

With
a doctorate and two master's degrees from Columbia University, Kurtzer
entered the foreign service in 1976. He had an early career in academia
in New York, where he was the dean of his undergraduate alma mater,
Yeshiva College, from 1977 to 1979.

Kurtzer
will serve up to five years in the visiting professor position at
Princeton, effective Jan. 1, 2006. Abraham donated the funds for the
endowed professorship, which the Princeton University Board of Trustees
approved Nov. 11. Abraham is a noted pioneer in the pharmaceutical and
diet food industries, and is recognized as a philanthropist who has
dedicated himself to Israel's security and peace in the Middle East.